Bhakti is self-revealing

In Anuccheda 139 of the Bhakti Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva Goswami explains how bhakti is self-revealing. Bhakti is Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti. This means bhakti is independent, like Bhagavān, and is not under the control of jīvas. It follows then, that bhakti, and her object, Bhagavān, are both self-revealing. That is, they cannot be attained by the efforts of the jīvas.

Śrī Jīva Goswami writes:

ata eva bhakteḥ śrī-bhagavat-svarūpa-śakti-bodhakatvaṁ svayam-prakāśatvam āha —

Therefore, Śrī Śuka describes the self-revealing nature (svayam-prakāśatvam) of bhakti, which makes evident the fact that it is Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti, or intrinsic potency:

Note the logic here. Because bhakti is self-revealing, bhakti must be Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti. This makes sense: self-revelation is the unique property of the samvit-śakti of Bhagavān, part of His svarūpa-śakti. If bhakti is self-revealing, it must be composed of samvit-śakti. And this is indeed true, because bhakti is a substance that is a mix of samvit-śakti and hladinī-śakti.

Śrī Jīva Goswami gleans the self-revealing nature of bhakti by citing the following verse —

yajñāya dharma-pataye vidhi-naipuṇāya yogāya sāṅkhya-śirase prakṛtīśvarāya |
nārāyaṇāya haraye nama ity udāraṁ hāsyan mṛgatvam api yaḥ samudājahāra || [bhā.pu. 5.14.45]

Even while relinquishing the deer body, he [Bharata] loudly exclaimed, “My obeisances unto Bhagavān Hari, who is the personification of sacramental action (yajña), the Master of religion (dharma), the ultimate authority on the religious codes (vidhi), the embodiment of yoga, the highest object of the Sāṅkhya philosophy, the Supreme Regulator (Īśvara) of primordial nature, and the shelter of all living beings (Nārāyaṇa).” (sb 5.14.45)

What is the connection between this verse and self-revelation? The point is that a deer cannot speak, leave alone speak Sanskrit verses! How can it speak the above prayer then?

Śrī Jīva writes–

ya ārṣabheyo bharato maraṇa-samaye tatrāpi mṛga-śarīre, tad-vacana-janmātyantāsambhavāt sva-prakāśatvam eva tasyāḥ kīrtana-lakṣaṇāyā bhakteḥ sidhyati | evaṁ gajendre’pi jñeyam ||

The pronoun yaḥ, “he,” here refers to Bharata, the son of Ṛṣabhadeva. Since it would be absolutely impossible to utter such words at the time of death and, moreover, while in the body of a deer, that Bharata was able to do so proves the self-revealing nature (sva-prakāśatvam) of bhakti, here characterized by this prayer of glorification. The same principle is to be understood as applicable in the case of Gajendra, the king of the elephants.

Babaji notes in his commentary that the verb samudājahāra means that he “uttered explicitly” (samyag uccāritavān) and not just in his mind. This means that the above prayer was self-disclosed on his tongue, even though the tongue of a deer does not have such capability. Likewise, Gajendra’s prayer was self-disclosed on the elephant’s tongue.

This is true also of other items related to Bhagavān. For example, Bhagavān’s name manifests independently, of its own will, onto one’s tongue. This is captured in a famous verse from the Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu (BRS 1.2.234)

ataḥ śrī kṛṣṇa-nāmādiataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ 
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ

Because the name, form and other attributes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa are transcendental, they are imperceptible to the material senses. But when a devotee offers the self in full devotion, then only do the Name and other attributes manifest themselves, of their own accord, on the tongue and other senses.